Hey guys, I’ve decided to enter this story into the Watty Awards, so please vote, and also you can now find me on Facebook, look for Celia Rhodes, or join the group xoStardust

PS. The picture on the side is of Evan Larkin

Comment and Vote?

Cheers,

xo.

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"People keep telling me that I fall in love too easily—that I should protect my heart, that I shouldn’t wear my heart on my sleeve… I fall in love at least 20 times a day. I fall in love with the sky and the sun and the flowers and my children. I fall in love with smiles, with music on the radio and with french fries and Dr. Pepper. I fall in love with the sound of laughter, blue jeans, accents… Sometimes I fall in love with complete strangers, especially the ones holding hands and kissing in public. The ones who aren’t afraid to be in love with the idea of being in love either… I don’t mind the pain of unrequited love so much, because I think they’re wrong. Love looks good on me."

 -Natalie Anne Erlanson

Chapter 7                  Grade 10

February 14

You know that feeling you got when you were a little kid on Christmas Eve? When you still thought Santa existed, and you kept out cookies and milk, and didn’t give it a second thought that this fat jolly old man could squeeze down your chimney? When you’d look out your window hoping for a glimpse of a reindeer, and go to sleep early in the hopes that Christmas day would come faster, sooner, if only you could just close your eyes?

Well, that’s how I felt about Valentine’s Day.

It was that same bubbling excitement that came over you as you rushed down the stairs in your pj’s to look under the tree, the same bated breath as you ripped open the candy striped wrapping paper…

Only it didn’t have an expiry date.

Love didn’t cease to exist once you reached a certain age. It was always there, in every language, culture and era. Love, amour, dragoste, liebe, it was ageless, timeless.

It was the one day in the year you could get away with the cheesiest, most sappy show of affection without getting even a sideways glance.

To me, it was the closest to magic you could get.

And yes, maybe it was commercialized; maybe these days’ people could put a price on love, but it was so much more to me than that.

It was the day you smiled at that stranger on the bus, left a Happy Valentine’s Day note on your friends desk, left a flower or a rose for someone who meant anything to you, in the hopes that maybe, just maybe you made their day a little better, a little brighter.

And if any or those things were left for you, you’d know that at least for a moment, at least for today, maybe someone you never knew, or overlooked, was thinking of you. And that’s enough.

 I grabbed the container of cookies I’d made the night before and hauled it to the car.

It would have been warm today without the breeze, one of those days where the weather couldn’t seem to decide if it was sunny or gloomy.

Of course in this town warm could turn to blazing and gloomy to a blizzard in a heartbeat. The only thing guaranteed was bad roads, but even that couldn’t dampen my mood.

All the radio stations were playing love songs, getting callers in to announce their love on the air, confess a crush they’d had for years; it was so sweet.

I lived for this stuff.

I wondered what it would be like for those people, the ones who turned on the radio like they always did in the morning and realized they were the one being talked about.

Of course, there were also the anti-V-Day stations, where the callers told about their heartbreaks or bad relationships, why they didn’t believe in love.

I couldn’t even fathom that.

How could you not believe in love?

No matter how bad things got, or what someone did there would always be something to love, the perfect sunset, good friends, a kind act from a complete stranger…

That was the beauty of love, there was never a shortage of it, and I just didn’t understand how you could completely lose your faith in it.

I switched off the radio as the school came into sight and just turned off the car when I got a text from Mandy saying she was at my locker.

Walking into the school I came to a complete stop.

It looked like a confetti machine had exploded red and pink decorations all over the school.

Hanging down from the rafters were winged cupids, bunches of balloons were string up around the main doors, streamers crisscrossed the ceiling and along the walls as far as I could see.

For a moment I thought I had to be dreaming.

The student’s union had really gone all out, first selling chocolate roses all week and now all these decorations, many of which looked handmade, it must have taken hours.

After standing for a moment or two in awe I slowly walked down the hall to my locker. Along the way I noticed everyone’s locker had a cutout red or pink heart with a name written on it.

Mandy waved excitedly when I turned the corner fluttering a cutout heart at me, presumably from her locker.

“There you are Ary, you must be loving this”

I grinned and pulled the heart off my locker.

Evan Larkin.

“What’s this about?”

“Scavenger hunt, you have to find the person on your card and then go down to the office to get a form for things you have to find around the school. Winners get two tickets each to Caesar’s Restaurant”

“No way, that place is beautiful and I’ve only seen in from the outside, I really must be dreaming, don’t pinch me”

She laughed and looked over my shoulder at my card.

“So, do you know an Evan Larkin?”

“He’s in my history class” And Wes’ best friend.

 “You’re lucky, I have no idea who this Danny Sinclair is, but I’m crossing my fingers for hot and single, Jeremy’s getting boring”

“Have a heart Mandy, don’t break up with the guy on Valentine’s Day”

“Relax, I said getting bored, I’m not breaking up with him, I’m just keeping my options open”

“I—“

“Hey girlies!”

We both looked down the hall to see Paige Summers rushing towards us, and my jaw dropped just the slightest.

She was wearing a bright red dress that was entirely too short for the way she was half running towards us, which I guess explained why half the boys in the hall were looking, and a pair of sparkly red pumps that were completely impractical for the weather and looked like they came right from a Dorothy-gone-wild version of the Wizard of Oz. 

“Wow, and I thought you liked the holiday too much” Mandy said quietly, voicing my thoughts as Paige came to stand in front of us.

“Well, what do you think?” She said giving a twirl.

She somehow managed not to look slutty, owing to the glitter in her hair and around her eyes that added a small amount of innocence, but it was a close call.

I was saved the trouble of coming up with a suitable compliment when Mandy blurted out “You look great!”

Paige beamed at us, obviously not catching the strain in Amanda’s voice like I had, which was probably for the best.

“Don’t you just love Valentine’s Day?”

“Apparently not as much as you” I said with a faint smile.

“I got paired with Jeremy Ford for the scavenger hunt which is just so awesome, that boy is fine” She said, holding up the red heart with his name on it.

I registered the name Paige had said seconds before Mandy spoke up beside me.

“I know, he’s my boyfriend”

Was I hearing things, or did Mandy just sound possessive?

Guess there was a first time for everything, because I’d never seen my best friend feel threatened by any girl.

And even more surprising, I felt slightly annoyed that Paige would check out another guy when she already had a boyfriend, even though Amanda did that all the time. I think I might actually have been jealous.

I told myself it wasn’t because that boyfriend was Wes; that would be ridiculous.

I was just annoyed that she didn’t seem to appreciate him.

Exactly. 

Not jealous at all.

“Well don’t worry girlfriend, he’s safe with me” She winked like they were sharing some kind of inside joke.

I felt uneasy about it all and judging by Mandy’s tense smile, I wasn’t the only one.

“Anyway, Wes has such a great night planned, he showed up at my locker with a dozen roses this morning, isn’t he the sweetest? And to top it off he even wrote me a Happy Valentine’s Day message in the school paper”

Mandy shot me a look and I wondered what she was thinking, or if she knew that now I really might have been, just the slightest bit, jealous.

 “Look at the time Arya, we’ve got to get to class,” She said, grabbing my arm and pulling us away from Paige. “It’s all the way in the science wing” She tried to say apologetically.

 Paige winked at us and twirled once, for whose benefit I have no idea. “Of course, I’ll see you lovely ladies at lunch!”

“Great…” We said simultaneously.

Amanda grabbed a copy of the Mindbender as we passed the office to class, like she knew I’d need to see for myself.

Having left Paige so quickly we got to class early and spread the paper out in front of us.

“She wasn’t lying, there it is,” I said calmly

 ‘Happy Valentine’s Day Paige’ –Wes

Not that I’d expected her to be lying, I’d just hoped she was mistaken, and then immediately I felt guilty for thinking that.

She was lucky to have such a great boyfriend.

Unlike me she probably didn’t wait in the sidelines for a guy she liked to notice her, she’d clearly gone out and done something about it since he didn’t seem the type to make the first move.

I tried to convince myself it was no big deal, it shouldn’t have been, but I was starting to get why people disliked being alone on V-Day so much.

 “That should cheer you up Mandy, looks like your secret admirer strikes again” I said, pointing to another post.

‘Be my Valentine A? You know you want to’ –The Stud

She rolled her eyes “There are tons of girls in the school whose names start with A”

“But there’s only one Amanda Royce in this school, and I distinctly remember him asking you out the last time he wrote”

“Whatever, I’m taken,” She said with a shrug.

It was very un-Mandy-like to shrug off attention from a guy, but maybe she was more loyal to Jeremy than I’d given her credit for.

When I gave her a skeptical look she just laughed and pointed back at the paper.

“Looks like your mystery boy is having some back luck in love too”

‘She's second place, only second best

But you don’t see me so who else is left?

She's half as pretty, only half as smart,

She has me for now, but only you have my heart’ –Shy Guy

“Well good for him, at least he’s not still waiting around for a girl who doesn’t notice him”

“Ohh look at this one, so cute”

‘Roses are red, violets are blue,
every morning I wake up thinking of you
Daffodils are yellow, daisy’s are white
Promise you’ll be my Valentine tonight? –Erik

“Alright class, settle down. Now in the spirit of Valentine’s Day we’re going to learn about the anatomy of the heart, even though it’s not strictly in the curriculum for this class” Ms. Daniels exclaimed with a clap of her hands.

There was a collective groan throughout the room. Leave it to Ms. Daniels to pick a hard topic we didn’t have to learn about and think she was being nice.

We spent the next hour and a half labeling a series of diagrams we wouldn’t be tested on until the bell finally rang.

“Thank goodness, why couldn’t we just learn the anatomy of those hearts” Amanda said in exasperation, pointing to the decorations around the school.

“Cheer up, next period they hand out the chocolate roses”

She grinned at that and wiggled her eyebrows. “Let me know if you get any good ones”

We separated at the end of the hall and I headed upstairs to English.

“Hey Valentine” I looked up in surprise to see none other than Evan Larkin walking next to me with a wide smile on his face.

And let me just say, he was much taller up close.

“Hey Evan”

Another thing I hadn’t told Amanda, and which she obviously hadn’t noticed, was that Evan was one of the rowdy boys at the corner table that had continued to make a scene every time we walked by.

She loved the attention but had never bothered to see who she was getting it from, typical Mandy.

“Well it seems the fates have conspired to pair us together,” He said dramatically, throwing an arm around my shoulders.

The action threw me off guard and I couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

“Don’t you have a class to get to?” Was the best I could come up with, not exactly brilliant, or relevant, but I wasn’t used to talking to such confident guys.

“Why yes I do, chemistry in fact, but not the kind we have,” he said with a wink.

I found myself slightly flustered again.

Who said that to a complete stranger?

“Right chemistry… Isn’t that the other way?”

“Well, I couldn’t very well pass up the chance to walk my Valentine to class”

“Um—“

“Meet me near the office after class. Those Caesar’s tickets will be ours, and it’s so much easier asking a girl out when you have somewhere to take them. Especially somewhere free”

Before I could even begin to reply he was running off the way we’d come, disappearing into the crowd as the bell rang.

I dropped in my seat feeling slightly dazed.

That conversation, or lack thereof; I didn’t really know what it was exactly, felt like I’d just run a marathon. And lost the track.

Mrs. Jenkins walked into class just then and shut the door hard behind her, stopping all the excited murmuring about chocolate roses.

“Miss. Kelsey, if you would start us off, Act 3, Scene 2”

I flipped my copy of Romeo and Juliet to the right page in case I had to read, but didn’t even bother paying attention after that.

Reading old English script was almost second nature to me and I didn’t need Mrs. Jenkins commentary to tell me what ‘O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face! Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?’ meant.

My phone vibrated from my bag and with a quick glance around, I pulled it out and hid it under my desk. I opened Mandy’s text to see a picture of a guy hunched over a desk and the message ‘Danny Sinclair, soo not my type’.

I almost had to laugh. Only she would pull out her phone in class and take a picture of the guy. 

‘Evan Larkin? Not mine, let’s trade ;)’ I texted back.

We continued back and forth until the last half hour of class when our lecture was mercifully interrupted by the arrival of the roses.

Finally.

The class looked noticeably excited, and the Student’s Union had written out cards with a cute quote for everyone so that all the students would be guaranteed at least one. 

Even the most skeptic about love wore the hint of a smile when they were handed their chocolate rose.

The good mood was contagious.

I was surprised when a set of three landed on my desk.

One was from the Student’s Union and another from Mandy, hers with funny message.

The third only had a lopsided heart drawn on the front. I flipped the card over looking for a name, and then had to blink to make sure I was really seeing this.

Four little words, but for a moment I couldn't breath, because this couldn't really be happening, there was just no way I was seeing this right.

‘From you know who…’

I was convinced it was a dream, my own silly fantasies running away with me, but I couldn't make up this feeling.

And it was perfect.

From the adorable lopsided heart only a guy could draw to the messy writing trying to be neat.

Perfect.

Class couldn’t end soon enough; I had to find Mandy. She’d known him; she could tell me if it was his writing. I didn’t want to dare believe it until then.

I nearly jumped out of my seat when the bell rang and raced down the hallway towards Mandy’s class, I knew I should be going to meet Evan but this would only take a moment.

“Arya”

I turned around slowly.

Please don’t be dreaming.

It was Michael Conner.

Just like that the halls seemed to be empty, and I forgot where I’d been heading or who I’d been looking for.

He was wearing a plain white oxford with a red tie hang loosely around his neck that was covered with little cupids and hearts. It was totally dorky and completely adorable.

I belatedly realized he’d said my name again.

“Hey Michael”

Not even a stutter, Mandy would be proud.

“So I see you got the rose”

I bit my lip to keep from grinning like an idiot and nodded.

Inside my head, I was freaking out a little. It really was from him.

“Thanks, it was really sweet”

“I was hoping you’d say that”

My face got hot with a blush and I wondered how exactly to reply to that, but he wasn’t finished.

“…I was also hoping you didn’t have any plans tonight?” He held out a pair of tickets for Letters to Juliet and ran the other hand nervously through his hair.

No.

Way.

Michael Conner was asking me out.

Now I couldn’t stop the goofy smile. “I’ve been wanting to see that”

He looked relieved and smiled, “Great, it starts at 7, meet me at the theater?”

“Definitely”

With one last brilliant smile he turned away, I watched pathetically until he turned a corner and only then managed to look away and slowly come back to reality.

I had a date with Michael Conner.

No wonder I loved Valentine’s Day.

The halls had cleared out, and I felt guilty realizing Evan was probably waiting for me, but now I really wanted to find Mandy.

I just needed to make sure this was real, that it was actually happening.

Making my way down to the cafeteria, I took a turn down the hall in the opposite direction Michael had gone.

Just before I made it to the doors I saw Mandy down a side hall and was about to call out to her before realizing she with someone.

But not with just anyone, she was talking with Wes Pierson.

Of all people, he would have been my last guess.

She was leaning against the lockers, frowning slightly while he stood in front of her, his back to me, talking quietly.

Unconsciously I took a step back, confused at what I was seeing.

Why would she be talking to him anyway? Was it something to do with Paige?

I had no idea, but I didn’t stick around long enough to find out. He did like her, and it was Valentine’s Day. It was just oddly disappointing.

I tried to shake the image out of my head, it wasn’t any of my business, and anyway, I had a date with Michael Conner.

The thought brought a smile to my face.

I’d only pictured this moment a thousand times, and it was finally happening tonight.

“There you are Valentine, I thought you’d stood me up,”